Agathon Ezekiel

Agathon Ezekiel (194 BC-) was a Jewish revolutionary who led the Maccabees after Judas Maccabeus' death at the Battle of Ariel in 163 BC. A brilliant general, he took the war to Seleucid soil when he invaded Syria, although his campaigns were marked with stalemate as the Seleucids frequently undid or held back his conquests.

Biography
Agathon Ezekiel was born in Jerusalem in 194 BC, and he belonged to a traditionalist Jewish family which was opposed to the hellenization of Jews by the Seleucids. Agathon joined the rebellion against Seleucid rule in 167 BC, rising in the ranks of the Maccabean Revolt. In 163 BC, following the death of Judas Maccabeus at the Battle of Ariel, Agathon took command of the battered Jewish army to the south of Jerusalem. Surprisingly, the Seleucids did not advance on defenseless Jerusalem, and Agathon took advantage of this foolishness to reoccupy Jerusalem and raise additional units to bolster his army; he also hired Arabian mercenaries. In 159 BC, he attacked the Seleucid army of Patrocles in the Galilee, decisively defeating them at the Battle of Hazorea and wiping out the Seleucid army. He took advantage of this victory by advancing into Syria, capturing the major port city of Tyre. He was prepared to attack Palmyra to the northeast when a Seleucid fleet reclaimed Tyre, and he was forced to turn back to Tyre, retaking the city and enslaving its subjects. When he again marched on Palmyra, he found that the city was defended by two large armies, and he was again forced to abandon his project.